Multi-camera vehicular vision system

ABSTRACT

A vehicular vision system includes at least two cameras disposed at a vehicle. The at least two cameras includes a first camera and a second camera. The first camera is disposed at an in-cabin side of a windshield of the vehicle and views through the windshield forward of the vehicle. Each of the first camera and the second camera includes a first CMOS imaging array having at least one million photosensor elements arranged in rows and columns. The second camera includes an encryptor that encrypts image data that is captured by the second camera. The first camera includes a decryptor that decrypts image data encrypted by the second camera. Image data captured by the first camera and image data captured by the second camera may be processed at an electronic control unit (ECU) for a machine vision system of the vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/420,239, filed Jan. 31, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,277,558,which claims the filing benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser.No. 62/289,442, filed Feb. 1, 2016, which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a vehicle vision system for avehicle and, more particularly, to a vehicle vision system that utilizestwo or more cameras at a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Use of imaging sensors in vehicle imaging systems is common and known.Examples of such known systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,949,331; 5,670,935 and/or 5,550,677, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a driver assistance system or visionsystem or imaging system for a vehicle that utilizes two or more cameras(preferably two or more CMOS cameras) to capture image datarepresentative of images exterior of the vehicle, with one of thecameras comprising a master camera and at least one other of the camerascomprising a slave camera. The master camera includes a view generatorand combines image data captured by the master camera with image datasignals of the slave camera(s) to generate an image for display at adisplay of the vehicle. Thus, the master camera includes aspects of acontrol unit, whereby the vision system eliminates the need of aseparate control unit.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a vision system of avehicle includes a plurality of cameras configured to be disposed at avehicle so as to have a field of view exterior of the vehicle. A displaydevice is operable to display images for viewing by a driver of thevehicle. Each of the plurality of cameras captures image data. Theplurality of cameras comprises a master camera and at least one (such asthree or five) slave camera, which communicates a signal to the masterslave camera representative of image data captured by the at least oneslave camera. The master camera comprises an image signal processor forprocessing image data captured by at least the master camera. The mastercamera comprises a view generator operable to generate images (derivedfrom image data captured by the master camera and the at least one slavecamera) for display by said display device.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle with a vision system thatincorporates cameras in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of an image chain configuration of a typical fourcamera compressed Ethernet SVS and a display connected via compressedEthernet;

FIG. 3 is a schematic of an image chain configuration of a typical fourcamera compressed Ethernet SVS and a display connected via NTSC;

FIG. 4 is a schematic of a vision system having a master camera and atleast three slave cameras in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic of another vision system having a master cameraand at least three slave cameras in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic of a vision system having a master camera and atleast five slave cameras in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A vehicle vision system and/or driver assist system and/or objectdetection system and/or alert system operates to capture images exteriorof the vehicle and may process the captured image data to display imagesand to detect objects at or near the vehicle and in the predicted pathof the vehicle, such as to assist a driver of the vehicle in maneuveringthe vehicle in a rearward direction. The vision system includes an imageprocessor or image processing system that is operable to receive imagedata from one or more cameras and provide an output to a display devicefor displaying images representative of the captured image data.Optionally, the vision system may provide display, such as a rearviewdisplay or a top down or bird's eye or surround view display or thelike.

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, a vehicle 10 includes an imaging system or vision system 12that includes at least one exterior facing imaging sensor or camera,such as a rearward facing imaging sensor or camera 14 a (and the systemmay optionally include multiple exterior facing imaging sensors orcameras, such as a forwardly facing camera 14 b at the front (or at thewindshield) of the vehicle, and a sidewardly/rearwardly facing camera 14c, 14 d at respective sides of the vehicle), which captures imagesexterior of the vehicle, with the camera having a lens for focusingimages at or onto an imaging array or imaging plane or imager of thecamera (FIG. 1). Optionally, a forward viewing camera may be disposed atthe windshield of the vehicle and view through the windshield andforward of the vehicle, such as for a machine vision system (such as fortraffic sign recognition, headlamp control, pedestrian detection,collision avoidance, lane marker detection and/or the like). The visionsystem 12 includes a control or electronic control unit (ECU) orprocessor 18 that is operable to process image data captured by thecamera or cameras and may detect objects or the like and/or providedisplayed images at a display device 16 for viewing by the driver of thevehicle (although shown in FIG. 1 as being part of or incorporated in orat an interior rearview mirror assembly 20 of the vehicle, the controland/or the display device may be disposed elsewhere at or in thevehicle). The data transfer or signal communication from the camera tothe ECU may comprise any suitable data or communication link, such as avehicle network bus or the like of the equipped vehicle.

A common solution in surround view/top view/bird's eye view vehiclesystems (SVS) that have cameras with Ethernet based data transmissionstypically employs a main ECU receiving the data from the cameras, whichthen typically generates the desired view such as the bird's eye topview or another selected view such as, for example, a reverse directedview (rear view) or the like. Typically, the display is attached to theECU for presenting the selected or generated view to the vehicleoccupants. The display device typically receives the image to view viaanalog NTSC or digitally, often serialized via APIX, or via a LVDS line.Optionally, the display device may be connected via another Ethernetline or link. Due to limited bandwidth for transferring high resolutionimages, the vision data often becomes compressed via a compressioncodec. In automotive applications, Mjpg and H.264 have been established,and soon there may be a new H.265 compression standard.

When transferring compressed camera video data via Ethernet to an ECU,the data of every camera needs to be decompressed in the ECU for furtherprocessing (image signal processing done by an image signal processor orISP) and for view generation before the resulting video image iscompressed for being transferred to a display device, when the displaydevice is attached via Ethernet. Typical view generation function blocksare view warping, image stitching, blending and overlay generation,optionally under consideration of specific mapping tables for specificartificial views or perspectives such as views differing from verticallytop down or other parameters. The ISP typically comprises Debayering,HDR Tone mapping and image enhancement such as de-noising. Additionalalgorithms such as camera calibration, camera synchronization, objectdetection and/or the like may be processed as well by the ECU.

An example of an image chain configuration of a typical four cameracompressed Ethernet SVS and a display connected via compressed Ethernetis shown in FIG. 2. And an example of an image chain configuration of atypical four camera compressed Ethernet SVS and a display connected viaNTSC is shown in FIG. 3.

The present invention provides a vision system that provides or includesthe ECU functionality in one of the cameras as a master camera, sparingthe ECU device instead. The non-master cameras are referred to herein asslave cameras. The slave cameras may stay identically (compare toconventional SVS Ethernet cameras) or optionally may comprise anadditional image signal processor (ISP), by that the ISP will be done oneach slave camera and for the image captured by the master camera on themaster camera, such as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. On a four camera SVS, themaster camera includes a decryptor that decrypts the image data of threeslave cameras (that has been encrypted by the respective slave cameraafter image signal processing and before communication to the mastercamera) and generates a view out of these three slave image signals andits own captured image signal.

On a six camera SVS, the master camera decrypts the encrypted datareceived from five slave cameras and generates a view out of these fiveslave images signal and its own captured image signal, such as shown inFIG. 6. For every configuration, having one master camera instead of anECU and at least one slave camera, one pair of Ethernet PHYs, onedecryption block, and one encryption block can be spared, which reducessystem costs and enhances the image quality. The master camera mayrequire a larger space due to holding more components and having moreconnectors. Because the choice is free as to which of the four (or moreor less) cameras will be the master camera, the camera with the mostspace freedom can be selected to be the master (for example, the mastercamera may be selected to be a forward viewing camera at a forwardportion of the vehicle, a rearward viewing camera at a rearward portionof the vehicle, a driver-side viewing camera at a driver-side portion(such as at an exterior driver-side rearview mirror) of the vehicle, ora passenger-side viewing camera at a passenger-side portion (such as atan exterior passenger-side rearview mirror) of the vehicle. Signal-wise,an architecture with the least common data line length (for connectionswith the master camera) is preferred.

The master-slave camera configuration of the present invention mayutilize aspects of the systems described in U.S. Publication No.US-2014-0327774 and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/334,365,filed Oct. 26, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,187,590, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The cameras or sensors may comprise any suitable camera or sensor.Optionally, the camera may comprise a “smart camera” that includes theimaging sensor array and associated circuitry and image processingcircuitry and electrical connectors and the like as part of a cameramodule, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systems described inInternational Publication Nos. WO 2013/081984 and/or WO 2013/081985,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The system includes an image processor operable to process image datacaptured by the camera or cameras, such as for detecting objects orother vehicles or pedestrians or the like in the field of view of one ormore of the cameras. For example, the image processor may comprise animage processing chip selected from the EYEQ family of image processingchips available from Mobileye Vision Technologies Ltd. of Jerusalem,Israel, and may include object detection software (such as the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,755; 7,720,580 and/or 7,038,577, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties), andmay analyze image data to detect vehicles and/or other objects.Responsive to such image processing, and when an object or other vehicleis detected, the system may generate an alert to the driver of thevehicle and/or may generate an overlay at the displayed image tohighlight or enhance display of the detected object or vehicle, in orderto enhance the driver's awareness of the detected object or vehicle orhazardous condition during a driving maneuver of the equipped vehicle.

The vehicle may include any type of sensor or sensors, such as imagingsensors or radar sensors or lidar sensors or ladar sensors or ultrasonicsensors or the like. The imaging sensor or camera may capture image datafor image processing and may comprise any suitable camera or sensingdevice, such as, for example, a two dimensional array of a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in at least 640 columns and 480 rows (atleast a 640×480 imaging array, such as a megapixel imaging array or thelike), with a respective lens focusing images onto respective portionsof the array. The photosensor array may comprise a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows andcolumns. Preferably, the imaging array has at least 300,000 photosensorelements or pixels, more preferably at least 500,000 photosensorelements or pixels and more preferably at least 1 million photosensorelements or pixels. The imaging array may capture color image data, suchas via spectral filtering at the array, such as via an RGB (red, greenand blue) filter or via a red/red complement filter or such as via anRCC (red, clear, clear) filter or the like. The logic and controlcircuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner, and theimage processing and algorithmic processing may comprise any suitablemeans for processing the images and/or image data.

For example, the vision system and/or processing and/or camera and/orcircuitry may utilize aspects described in U.S. Publication No.US-2014-0327774 and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,694,224; 7,005,974; 5,760,962;5,877,897; 5,796,094; 5,949,331; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620;6,523,964; 6,611,202; 6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109;6,802,617; 6,806,452; 6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978; 7,859,565;5,550,677; 5,670,935; 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 6,882,287;5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, and/or International Publication Nos. WO2011/028686; WO 2010/099416; WO 2012/061567; WO 2012/068331; WO2012/075250; WO 2012/103193; WO 2012/0116043; WO 2012/0145313; WO2012/0145501; WO 2012/145818; WO 2012/145822; WO 2012/158167; WO2012/075250; WO 2012/0116043; WO 2012/0145501; WO 2012/154919; WO2013/019707; WO 2013/016409; WO 2013/019795; WO 2013/067083; WO2013/070539; WO 2013/043661; WO 2013/048994; WO 2013/063014, WO2013/081984; WO 2013/081985; WO 2013/074604; WO 2013/086249; WO2013/103548;

WO 2013/109869; WO 2013/123161; WO 2013/126715; WO 2013/043661; WO2013/158592 and/or WO 2014/204794, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. The system may communicate withother communication systems via any suitable means, such as by utilizingaspects of the systems described in International Publication Nos. WO2010/144900; WO 2013/043661 and/or WO 2013/081985, and/or U.S.Publication No. US-2012-0062743, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Optionally, the vision system may include a display for displayingimages captured by one or more of the imaging sensors for viewing by thedriver of the vehicle while the driver is normally operating thevehicle. Optionally, for example, the vision system may include a videodisplay device disposed at or in the interior rearview mirror assemblyof the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the video mirror displaysystems described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or U.S. Publication No.US-2012-0162427, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. The video mirror display may comprise any suitabledevices and systems and optionally may utilize aspects of the compassdisplay systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,370,983; 7,329,013;7,308,341; 7,289,037; 7,249,860; 7,004,593; 4,546,551; 5,699,044;4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092; 5,677,851; 5,708,410; 5,737,226;5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953; 6,173,508; 6,222,460; 6,513,252 and/or6,642,851, and/or European patent application, published Oct. 11, 2000under Publication No. EP 0 1043566, and/or U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties. Optionally, the video mirror display screen ordevice may be operable to display images captured by a rearward viewingcamera of the vehicle during a reversing maneuver of the vehicle (suchas responsive to the vehicle gear actuator being placed in a reversegear position or the like) to assist the driver in backing up thevehicle, and optionally may be operable to display the compass headingor directional heading character or icon when the vehicle is notundertaking a reversing maneuver, such as when the vehicle is beingdriven in a forward direction along a road (such as by utilizing aspectsof the display system described in International Publication No. WO2012/051500, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety).

Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the forward facing camera and arearward facing camera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle withexterior fields of view) may be part of or may provide a display of atop-down view or birds-eye view system of the vehicle or a surround viewat the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed in International Publication Nos. WO 2010/099416; WO2011/028686; WO 2012/075250; WO 2013/019795; WO 2012/075250; WO2012/145822; WO 2013/081985; WO 2013/086249 and/or WO 2013/109869,and/or U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0162427, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments canbe carried out without departing from the principles of the invention,which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent lawincluding the doctrine of equivalents.

1. A vehicular vision system comprising: at least two cameras disposedat a vehicle equipped with the vehicular vision system; wherein eachcamera of the at least two cameras captures respective image data;wherein the at least two cameras comprises a first camera and a secondcamera; wherein the first camera is disposed at an in-cabin side of awindshield of the vehicle and views through the windshield forward ofthe vehicle; wherein the first camera comprises a first CMOS imagingarray having at least one million photosensor elements arranged in rowsand columns; wherein the second camera comprises a second CMOS imagingarray having at least one million photosensor elements arranged in rowsand columns; wherein the second camera comprises an encryptor thatencrypts image data that is captured by the second camera; wherein thefirst camera comprises a decryptor that decrypts image data encrypted bythe second camera; and wherein (i) image data captured by the firstcamera and (ii) image data captured by the second camera are processedat an electronic control unit (ECU) for a machine vision system of thevehicle.
 2. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein the firstcamera comprises the ECU.
 3. The vehicular vision system of claim 1,wherein the ECU comprises an image processing chip.
 4. The vehicularvision system of claim 1, wherein the second camera and the first cameraare connected via a communication bus of the vehicle.
 5. The vehicularvision system of claim 1, wherein the second camera and the first cameraare connected via an Ethernet connection.
 6. The vehicular vision systemof claim 1, wherein image data captured by the first camera isunencrypted.
 7. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, wherein thesecond camera views exterior of the vehicle.
 8. The vehicular visionsystem of claim 1, further comprising a third camera disposed at thevehicle, wherein the third camera comprises an encryptor that encryptsthe image data that is captured by the third camera, and wherein thefirst camera comprises a decryptor that decrypts image data encrypted bythe third camera.
 9. The vehicular vision system of claim 8, wherein thesecond camera comprises a left-side viewing camera disposed at aleft-side portion of the vehicle, and wherein the third camera comprisesa right-side viewing camera disposed at a right-side portion of thevehicle.
 10. The vehicular vision system of claim 9, wherein the secondcamera is disposed at an exterior left-side rearview mirror assembly ofthe vehicle, and wherein the third camera is disposed at an exteriorright-side rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle.
 11. The vehicularvision system of claim 8, wherein the first camera comprises a pluralityof decryptors that each decrypts image data encrypted by a respectiveone of the second camera and the third camera.
 12. The vehicular visionsystem of claim 8, wherein the third camera comprises a third CMOSimaging array having at least one million photosensor elements arrangedin rows and columns.
 13. The vehicular vision system of claim 1, whereinimage data captured by at least the first camera is processed at the ECUfor at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) a trafficsign recognition system of the vehicle, (ii) a headlamp control systemof the vehicle, (iii) a pedestrian detection system of the vehicle, (iv)a collision avoidance system of the vehicle and (v) a lane markerdetection system of the vehicle.
 14. The vehicular vision system ofclaim 1, wherein the image data captured and encrypted by the secondcamera is provided to the first camera as compressed video image data.15. The vehicular vision system of claim 14, wherein the compressedvideo image data is provided to the first camera via an Ethernet link.16. A vehicular vision system comprising: at least three camerasdisposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular vision system; whereineach camera of the at least three cameras captures respective imagedata; wherein the at least three cameras comprises a first camera, asecond camera and a third camera; wherein the first camera is disposedat an in-cabin side of a windshield of the vehicle and views through thewindshield forward of the vehicle; wherein the first camera comprises afirst CMOS imaging array having at least one million photosensorelements arranged in rows and columns; wherein the second cameracomprises a left-side viewing camera disposed at a left-side portion ofthe vehicle; wherein the second camera comprises a second CMOS imagingarray having at least one million photosensor elements arranged in rowsand columns; wherein the second camera comprises an encryptor thatencrypts image data that is captured by the second camera; wherein thethird camera comprises a right-side viewing camera disposed at aright-side portion of the vehicle; wherein the third camera comprises athird CMOS imaging array having at least one million photosensorelements arranged in rows and columns; wherein the third cameracomprises an encryptor that encrypts image data that is captured by thethird camera; wherein the first camera comprises at least one decryptorthat decrypts image data encrypted by the second camera and thatdecrypts image data decrypted by the third camera; and wherein imagedata captured by the first camera is processed at an electronic controlunit (ECU) for a headlamp control system of the vehicle and at least oneselected from the group consisting of (i) a traffic sign recognitionsystem of the vehicle, (ii) a pedestrian detection system of thevehicle, (iii) a collision avoidance system of the vehicle and (iv) alane marker detection system of the vehicle.
 17. The vehicular visionsystem of claim 16, wherein the first camera comprises the ECU.
 18. Thevehicular vision system of claim 16, wherein the ECU comprises an imageprocessing chip.
 19. The vehicular vision system of claim 16, whereinimage data captured by the first camera is unencrypted.
 20. Thevehicular vision system of claim 16, wherein the second camera isdisposed at an exterior left-side rearview mirror assembly of thevehicle, and wherein the third camera is disposed at an exteriorright-side rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle.
 21. The vehicularvision system of claim 16, wherein the first camera comprises aplurality of decryptors that each decrypts image data encrypted by arespective one of the second camera and the third camera.
 22. Avehicular vision system comprising: at least three cameras disposed at avehicle equipped with the vehicular vision system; wherein each cameraof the at least three cameras captures respective image data; whereinthe at least three cameras comprises a first camera, a second camera anda third camera; wherein the first camera is disposed at an in-cabin sideof a windshield of the vehicle and views through the windshield forwardof the vehicle; wherein the first camera comprises a first CMOS imagingarray having at least one million photosensor elements arranged in rowsand columns; wherein the second camera comprises a left-side viewingcamera disposed at a left-side portion of the vehicle; wherein thesecond camera comprises a second CMOS imaging array having at least onemillion photosensor elements arranged in rows and columns; wherein thesecond camera comprises an encryptor that encrypts image data that iscaptured by the second camera; wherein the third camera comprises aright-side viewing camera disposed at a right-side portion of thevehicle; wherein the third camera comprises a third CMOS imaging arrayhaving at least one million photosensor elements arranged in rows andcolumns; wherein the third camera comprises an encryptor that encryptsimage data that is captured by the third camera; wherein the firstcamera comprises at least one decryptor that decrypts image dataencrypted by the second camera and that decrypts image data decrypted bythe third camera; wherein image data captured by the first camera isprocessed at an electronic control unit (ECU) for a pedestrian detectionsystem of the vehicle and at least one selected from the groupconsisting of (i) a traffic sign recognition system of the vehicle,(ii), a headlamp control system of the vehicle (iii) a collisionavoidance system of the vehicle and (iv) a lane marker detection systemof the vehicle; and wherein the first camera is connected to the ECU viaa first wired connection, and wherein the second camera is connected tothe ECU via a second wired connection, and wherein the third camera isconnected to the ECU via a third wired connection.
 23. The vehicularvision system of claim 22, wherein the first camera comprises the ECU.24. The vehicular vision system of claim 22, wherein the ECU comprisesan image processing chip.
 25. The vehicular vision system of claim 22,wherein image data captured by the first camera is unencrypted.
 26. Thevehicular vision system of claim 22, wherein the second camera isdisposed at an exterior left-side rearview mirror assembly of thevehicle, and wherein the third camera is disposed at an exteriorright-side rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle.
 27. The vehicularvision system of claim 22, wherein the first camera comprises aplurality of decryptors that each decrypts image data encrypted by arespective one of the second camera and the third camera.
 28. Thevehicular vision system of claim 22, wherein the first wired connection,the second wired connection and the third wired connection compriserespective Ethernet connections.